


Little Albatross

by Xyriath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Fusion, Background Character Death, Blood, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Medical Torture, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: Pidge signed on with a spaceship full of smugglers as a job, wanting to see more of the universe, but the crew of Paladin quickly became a family.  When a beautiful young woman on the run from the government that turned her into a guinea pig turned to the ship as a safe hiding place, they'd all expected trouble, Pidge included.But as Pidge grows to know her, she decides that Allura is so very worth it.





	Little Albatross

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Voltron Rarepair Flash Bang on tumblr! A special thank you to my artist, Wispybuttercup, for their art; [please check it out here!](http://wispybuttercup.tumblr.com/post/178091662817/i-participated-in-voltronrarepairflashbang-i-did)
> 
> This fic is part of a much larger AU I hope to write one day, but until then, enjoy this small story from the crew of Paladin.

Pidge remembered the first time the crew had seen her, naked and shaking, stumbling into Coran’s arms as she looked around frantically.  They had automatically assumed the worst.

And how could they not have?   A naked, beautiful girl in a portable freezer, transported by an older man growing shiftier by the minute—

Even the crew of Paladin, no-good, low-life smugglers as they were, had suffered a collective stomach turn at the implications.

(Except Sendak, maybe.  But then he’d never really cared much about anything but big guns, anyway.)

But the dark-skinned girl with moonlit-white hair had revived, and instead of reacting with fear, had clung to Coran like he was her last lifeline.  And as Coran had stared into the barrel of Shiro’s gun, spinning a tale of a murdered father, a genius daughter, horrible experiments, and an oath to a dying man to keep her safe, Pidge could feel her hackles of suspicion begin to soften into something… else.  Something with awe and terror and tenderness alike.

She wanted Allura safe.

—

Out here, in the black, surrounded by the cold vacuum of space, there were only so many ways to keep yourself busy.  On a ship like Paladin, there was almost always something to be done. Pidge had never asked exactly, but she knew the ship had to be at least twice her age, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it might be even closer to thrice.  She’d done her best to keep the tech as upgraded as possible, but that required money.

It was an exhausting and demanding life, but it was a free one; she wouldn’t trade it for any other.  And it just made moments of diversion that much sweeter.

Right now, she and Sendak were  _ absolutely _ cheating.

Shiro’s yelps of laughing protest and Keith’s grumbling made no difference, Lance cackling in support (Pidge and Sendak were on his team, after all).  Her thighs clung tightly to his shoulders, and she grinned maniacally as Sendak swiped the ball from Kolivan and passed it up to her. With a triumphant whoop, she thrust it through the ratty tire dangling from the top of the cargo hold.

“Too tall!” Shiro managed to laugh, shaking his head in protest, but Pidge only stuck her tongue out at him.

“No dishes for a week,” Lance reminded him, grin the epitome of shit-eating.  “That was the deal, Captain.”

Shiro sighed, but Pidge stopped paying attention to him when she caught a flash of white up on the balcony.

Allura stood there, her hair down in curling waves to her shoulders. This was the first time Pidge had seen Allura out of her room since…

Since ever.

She was smiling, almost beaming, her eyes shining in delight at the play going on below, and for just a moment, Pidge could see the young woman that Allura had once been.

That she might become again.

Something twisted in Pidge, a longing.  A need to protect her. A wish that they had met differently.

From her spot on Sendak’s shoulders, she lifted a hand, beckoning.

Allura hesitated, the smile slipping for just a moment, but Pidge didn’t look away.

After a few moments, she stepped over to the stairs, heading down.

—

Even as Allura seemed to get better, however, there were always the nights that—

Weren’t.

Doctors, Allura told Pidge, alone and secluded where she could feel safe.  Doctors with knives and needles, seeing an asset, not a human, changing her and twisting her until she couldn’t tell what was real and what was her brain playing tricks, after being cut into and tested and  _ played with _ for years.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” came the anguished whisper, cracking from a voice that should have laughed instead, should have dazzled a room as she swept through it, drawing in countless admirers.

“It’s okay,” Pidge murmured, running a hand up Allura’s shaking back, an uncomfortable lump in her throat.  “I don’t mind. I… I wanna help take care of you.”

Allura let out a bitter laugh, forehead thumping into Pidge’s shoulder.  “You shouldn’t—you shouldn’t  _ have _ to, Pidge.  I used to be—I was so much more than this.”

Pidge let out a soft laugh, pulling her tighter.

“Hey,” she murmured.  “From where I’m standing, you’re still a whole hell of a lot.”

With a shaky gasp, Allura buried her face in the cloth of Pidge’s shirt.

One day, Pidge swore, she would find the ones who did this.  And they would pay.

—

The first time Allura saved their lives, she shouldn’t have even been there.

Shiro had promised that the job would be simple.  Easy. Of course, Shiro had promised that on enough jobs that none of them really believed it, given the crew’s ratio of fuckups to successes. But that just meant that they made extra preparations to make sure they all got out alive.

Varkon had always been a bit of a touch-and-go business partner.  Despite having a “respectable” criminal operation out of the Eavesdown Docks, there always seemed to be some tension between him and Paladin’s crew.  Pidge had asked Sendak why, once, but he had grunted and shrugged in a clear lack of interest before going back to polishing his knife. But jobs from him  _ usually _ went relatively well.

Usually.

They gathered at the docks, Varkon’s share of the money in hand, ready to be done with it all.  Easy as it had been, most of them had the suspicion that the other shoe was bound to drop soon.

“You hate him for what he did to you,” came the lilting, accented voice from behind them, and all four of the crew whirled.

“Shun-sheng duh gao wahn!” Adam spat. He glanced anxiously at Allura, then over to Shiro with a wary, knowing look.  “Captain told you to stay onboard.”

“Varkon.  He said it was just business,” Allura replied, expression unchanged as she watched Adam intently.  “But you’re still angry. Though the debt is forgiven—”

“Allura,” Shiro interrupted, tone uncharacteristically harsh.  “Get back to the ship.”

Sendak had taken an interest now, too, watching the exchange with much less subtlety than Pidge.

“This is just business, too,” Allura said simply.  “He doesn’t want you dead, but he’ll choose his own life over yours without hesitating.  They’re waiting inside.” She swallowed, eyes locking onto Pidge’s. Allura’s expression finally shifted, fear and pleading flickering in it.  “But I don’t want you to die.”

“None of us is gonna die,” Sendak growled, yanking his gun out of its holster and narrowing his eyes.  Shiro, Adam, and Pidge quickly followed suit. “I say we go in, guns blazin’. Take ‘em by surprise.”

“I reckon you’re right,” Shiro murmured, eyes lingering on Allura for a moment longer.  “Adam, don’t kill Varkon unless you gotta. You three ready?”

Pidge nodded with the rest, and with a burning expression in his eyes, Shiro kicked in the door.

The firefight didn’t last long, and at the end, the six would-be ambushers lay dead, Sendak rifling through their pockets as Shiro faced down a shaking Varkon.  Piss puddled on the floor as their Captain informed him that this time, they would be keeping the entire share of the money.

Pidge barely noticed, turning instead to the footsteps that followed them into the room.

Allura, head held high, even as her fingers shook, stepped around blood with the daintiness of a princess.

“He won’t do it again,” Allura said regally, eyes flashing.  Pidge’s mouth went dry as she realized how very, very in trouble she was.  “He’s learned by now not to cross us. Haven’t you, scum?”

Varkon nodded with the tiniest of whimpers.

Shiro, Sendak, and Adam filtered out, Pidge lingering behind for a moment, just to make sure Allura intended to leave.  And so she did, turning and smiling gently at Pidge before reaching out to take her hand.

“I didn’t want you to die,” she said softly.

And motherfucker, Pidge was in  _ so _ much trouble.

—

And now, Pidge could only watch, awed, at what Allura had become, after where she had started.

The bodies of the Reavers at her feet, Allura stepped between them with the daintiness Pidge had only seen once before, the corner of her mouth curling up as she sheathed the two giant blades she had stolen from their attackers.

“I told you, Pidge,” she said softly, reaching down to trace a finger down her face, and right now, as she cupped her hand over Allura’s, Pidge didn’t care that they were in danger, that they were in so far over their heads that she wasn’t sure they would ever see daylight again.  “This time, it’s my turn to take care of you.”


End file.
